Photos from Saturday’s scrimmage
April 24, 2016 by Mike Casazza
A crowd of about 6,000 attended the Gold-Blue Game Saturday at The Greenbrier. Our Christian Tyler Randolph was there to shoot and share some photographs.
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- Middle linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton (17) sizes up the play before the snap. I said it before, and I’ll say it again: He’s frightening.
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- Quarterback Skyler Howard runs with some help from running back Rushel Shell (7) and the offensive line. Howard didn’t run much in the game, and with his rushes and a sack he was left with minus-6 yards on the ground. As a passer, Howard completed 18 of 26 passes for 270 yards, three touchdowns and one interception that cornerback Antonio Crawford returned for a touchdown.
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- Receiver Daikiel Shorts stops and shakes cornerback Nana Kyeremeh. Shorts caught five pases for 89 yards, including one 46-yard gain when he slipped free from safety Jeremy Tyler.
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- West Virginia’s William Crest (16) runs between defenders and past defensive lineman Adam Shuler (88). Crest played quarterback and running back in the game. He completed 2 of 5 passes for 17 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw two interceptions. As a running back and quarterback, Crest had a game-high 89 yards on 12 carries.
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- Defensive lineman Adam Shuler finishes his pass rush and hits William Crest’s arm as Crest aims deep down the left sideline for receiver Marcus Simms. The throw wobbled and was intercepted by safety Shane Commodore, a walk-on who had two interceptions in the game.
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- Rob Dowdy, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound redshirt freshman offensive lineman, finds the camera after finding the field with many other backups later in the game.
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- Linebacker Sean Walters (27) comes to terms with a targeting penalty he received for a vicious tackle on quarterback William Crest, who’s kneeling to the left. The play, one of two penalties in the entire scrimmage, drew Holgorsen from the sideline to the scene as he yelled, ‘Are you kidding me?’ because quarterbacks are not supposed to be tackled in the pocket. Walters, who Holgorsen said would have been ejected in a regular game, told defensive coordinator Tony Gibson he thought Crest was running a quarterback draw. ‘It’s stupid,’ Holgorsen said. ‘Sean knows better than that. Will could have gotten the ball out. We could have prevented that with a (blocking) assignment, OK, but we’ve practiced this way all spring. Those guys know that when they get there they’ve got to veer off.’
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- Freshman receiver Marcus Simms goes to the sky for one of his four catches. Simms had 52 yards receiving and a game-high two touchdowns. He’d missed the prior two Saturdays following the death of his older brother last month. ‘It’s actually fun to watch, because he has no clue what he’s doing,’ head coach Dana Holgorsen said.
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- David Sills, who played played quarterback and receiver during the game, throws on the run for Ricky Rogers. Sills caught three passes for 50 yards and a touchdown from true freshman Cody Saunders, who was 6-for-7 for 92 yards and two scores. As a quarterback, Sills ran five times for 26 yards and completed 4 of 8 passes for 44 yards and a game-ending 34-yard touchdown to Rogers.